You know that expression 'how time flies'? Well, I'm certainly really feeling that today – as a Nintendo classic that's more than 30 years old has just dropped for the Nintendo Switch. It's yet another of Nintendo's expertly executed remasters for a new generation – and just ahead of the rumoured Switch 2 console reveal.
The title in question is Donkey Kong Country Returns HD, reworked for the Switch, having already re-released on the Nintendo Wii as Donkey Kong Country Returns back in 2010. As if 15 years ago wasn't long enough, that Wii version was a reimagining of the SNES (Super NES in the USA, or Super Famicom as it was in Japan) classic from 1994.
I remember playing the original – rented from Blockbuster video, but of course – and I'm now mining a nostalgia rabbit hole with great interest. Retro gaming is clearly here in a big way – but what DK's re-release on Switch also goes to show is just how darn good Nintendo is at making platform games that truly stand the test of time.
Indeed, Nintendo's dab-handedness when it comes to first-party exclusive games is what's kept the company in such robust shape in recent decades. Sega has disappeared from the hardware game, Sony PlayStation and Microsoft Xbox remain strong – but there's just something so retro yet so modern and so perfect about the way Nintendo conducts itself. It's kept me as a life-long fan.
Whether that's enough for me to go and drop £45/$60 on buying the game once more is up for question though. I can see the 'high-definitioning' of the previous game has been made with love, but were Donkey Kong's side-scrolling outings ever quite as epic as Mario's? I'm not sure – although its Metacritic score (from 2010) is a strong 87/100.
If anything, DK's release is getting me more hyped for the supposed Nintendo Switch 2 launch. Much as I've loved looking at my PlayStation 5 under the telly over the holiday period at the end of last year, you know what? It was exclusively Mario Party Jamboree that was played over those weeks – showing that Nintendo's power for simplicity and effectiveness remains strong.
I'm certainly more on team Nintendo than I am team PS5 Pro. My T3 colleague bought the latter and even six-weeks into ownership has been questioning the Pro console's worth (aside from one title that makes the PS5 Pro finally feel worth it). So here's to the game's re-release... although, tempted as I am, I think I'm saving this cash to put towards a Switch 2 pre-order instead!
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